Page 7 of Zimon's Bride
“But when I’m I ever going to wear this?” she asked.
“I thought perhaps you might wear it for our wedding on Narova.”
“On earth, the groom is not supposed to see the bride’s dress before the wedding.”
“That custom is not observed by Narovians. However, if you would rather surprise me, you could wear this gown to the ball after the ceremony.”
Abby smiled at me. “That’s a lovely idea. Since you really like it, how could I refuse?” She gave me a hug and kissed my cheek. Then she returned to the dressing room to put her clothes back on.
By then, it was time for another meal, so we stopped at a street café for a dinner of stir-fried meat and vegetables that reminded Abby of Asian food.
It had been years since I had been to Mars’ City, yet things had not changed all that much. I quite enjoyed showing the places that I had visited in the past. Three days later, we caught a shuttle back to Earth.
On my first day back on Earth, I had to schedule a meeting with the agent liaison from the joint Alliance – Earth anti-human trafficking task force.
I was a little distracted when I sat down in Agent Jack Marshall’s office for our meeting to discuss task force strategy. He was my Earth counterpart in the joint task force between our law enforcement agencies. I’d been away almost three weeks and needed to catch up on what I’d missed.
“You haven’t missed that much,” said Jack frowning slightly. Your mate simply confirmed what we’ve known. Dalton Lane, the man we’ve been tracking for months, is behind this human trafficking syndicate. He’s still one step ahead of us.”
“It’s been frustrating,” I replied, my feline senses picking up on the agent’s subtle movements.
“He’s too good at covering his tracks, but we’ve finally got a break. You probably haven’t heard that your agent Samara has worked her way into his organization. She has even caught his eye, and they have a flirtation going. It seems he is between lovers at the moment.”
“Lane has a notorious weakness for beautiful women. That is good news. She’s smart as well as attractive. If anyone can reel him in, she can,” I agreed.
Jack picked up his coffee and took a sip. “Do you still have your people combing the hills for the Tenzari base?”
I glanced at my own coffee cup that I had hardly touched. I didn’t want to be rude, but the coffee in Jack’s office was terrible, even with the extra creamer and sugar I added, attempting to make it palatable. “Absolutely. We found a couple, but they were deserted. I don’t know if they had been abandoned or temporarily out of service. We’ve known there were more than a few, and they seem to be rotating which ones they use.”
“We got to get lucky one of these days,” said Jack. “I wish we had enough manpower to stake them all out to catch the Tenzari when they are active.”
Jack and I talked a little longer, and he wished me happiness with my new mate. I promised he would get to meet her one of these days, and then I headed back to the base.
Chapter Six
Abby
Returning to Earth after being kidnapped and transported into space by aliens was almost anticlimactic. Being kidnapped was horrific, but meeting with Zimon after I was rescued gave me no time to muse over it. The mating frenzy took over, immersing me in bonding with my mate.
Now that the Alliance had revealed itself and Earth had joined it, Zimon no longer wore a disguise to make him look human. Since he was off duty, his long blue hair was loose, and he wore civilian clothes. Neighbors might not have noticed his feline ears atop his head from a distance. However, anyone paying attention could not help but spot Zimon at 6’6” with the muscular structure of a bodybuilder.
I didn’t start to feel shaky until we went to my home to get some clothes so I could stay at the Alliance base with Zimon for a few days. I didn’t remember much because they drugged me. I just remembered going to the car to drive to meet Zimon and then waking up on the alien base within a lonely cell.
Remembering the terror when we were told we were now slaves of the Drayid Empire left me feeling sick. Thankfully, Zimon was there with me and helped me inside.
“I’ve got you,meomee.”He put his arm around me and held me against his side as we stepped onto the porch. Once we got inside, he held me in his arms and rubbed my back, murmuring soothing reassurances.
“Zimon, I remember seeing one of the other men in on the kidnapping with Dalton Lane. He was at the alien base when we were taken to the ship. I remember recognizing him because I had seen him at the convenience store where I stopped for coffee in the morning. I don’t know his name.”
“Do you know where he’s from?”
“I don’t. I only know I would recognize him if I saw him again.”
“There isn’t much we can do with that until we catch them,” he said. “Are you up to gathering your things?”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“Okay, and while you are doing that, I will contact the base and see if they’ve made progress on the investigation.” Zimon took out his communicator, which looked like an old-style flip phone.
